ailments. she had a concussion, a blood clot. she's waving to cameras there, says she's doing well. she's got a meeting in the 9:00 hour with her staffers. probably the most watched departure for work in the history of a little while. she's got a meeting with her staffers in the 9:00 hour, and she'll meet with hamid karzai on friday as well. let's take a moment to talk about "end point" before we run out of time. wrap up the day for me. >> i have a good one. >> okay, start. he's got nothing. >> the president announcing cia director will be john brennan today. that's coming out at 1:00. they clearly leaked that announcement to take the heat off the chuck hagel kerfuffle. in washington, no one's talking about it, though. they're talking about rg3. >> do you think it's going to happen for chuck hagel? >> yes, i do. it's going to be a spirited confirmation process, but i think it will happen. >> cnn newsroom with carol

costello begins now. we'll see everyone else back here tomorrow morning. sorry. next time, charles. good morning, carol. >> good morning. thanks a lot. here's what's happening in the newsroom. a war hero and washington politics. former senator chuck hagel may need the war survival skills as one-time allies rally against his pending nomination as defense secretary. >> my wife is a hero. she protected her kids. she did what she was supposed to do as a responsible, prepared gun owner. a georgia man praising his wife after she fought back against an intruder. gun rights advocates say we told you so. rg3 down and out. the redskins have replaced their franchise quarterback long before his knee buckled? "newsroom" starts now. good morning to you. thank you so much for being with

us. i'm carol costello. we begin with a new battle, or should i say another battle that's brewing this morning in washington. at the center, former u.s. senator chuck hagel. in four hours, president obama is expected to name hagel as his choice for defense secretary. that nomination could be bruising. hagel is known for being fiercely independent and the loudest outcry could come from hagel's own fellow republicans. they say he's the wrong choice to oversee the military. the combat veteran, who was badly wounded in vietnam, is openly wary of armed conflict. >> the pain, and we didn't have any medics there with us, and we did have some guys, again, that i think were in pretty bad shape. the morphine and everything was used for them. >> you know, if i ever get out of all this, i am going to do everything i can to assure that war is a last resort. that we, a nation, a people,

calls upon to settle a dispute. the horror of it, the pain of it, the suffering of it. >> hagel won two purple hearts for his service in vietnam. he also saved the life of his brother, who was fighting alongside him. hagel has also long called for cuts in defense spending. national correspondent jim acosta is on capitol hill to set the stage. jim, some republicans say this is an in your face nomination by the president. it doesn't sound good. >> reporter: well, we'll have to see what happens. a lot of times, this sort of hue and cry will get going in the early rounds, but once the confirmation hearings get going, some of that does tend to melt away. you're right. lindsey graham was on cnn's "state of the union" yesterday calling this an in your face nomination and basically saying this is going to be a very controversial pick for president obama. we should note the white house just put out some official guidance at 1:05 this afternoon the president will come out and make a personnel announcement. we expect that to be the announcement of chuck hagel for

defense secretary and john brennan for director of the cia. but getting back to chuck hagel, you mentioned some of his credentials just a few moments ago. he is not only a republican senator who served in these halls with many of these same senators who might be opposing him or asking him tough questions, he also served in veet na vietnam. carol, he took controversial positions over the years and made some controversial statements. he opposed the iraq surge, the surge of troops into iraq to help stabilize that country during the second term of george w. bush. he has from time to time opposed unilateral sampnctions on iran. that also raised the dan der of neo-conservatives here in washington. so it's no surprise -- and he's made some comments about israel and the israeli lobby group, apac, calling them the jewish lobby. that has angered a lot of jewish americans and israelis about that. it's no surprise that lindsey graham is making these tough comments that he made earlier today on state of the union. here's what he had to say. >> this is an in your face

nomination by the president to all of us who are supportive of israel. i don't know what his management experience is regarding the pentagon, little, if any. so i think it's an incredibly controversial choice, and it looks like the second term of barack obama is going to be an in your face term. >> reporter: and we should also note that mitch mcconnell, the senate minority leader, the top republican here in the senate, made some softer comments on the other sunday talk shows. he was saying that chuck hagel will get some thorough vetting, will get tough kwequestions, bue was not talking about it in the same stark terms as senator graham. president obama is making this nomination with congress out of town, so there's also time for this nomination to melt away. we'll have to see. i want to take a closer look now at the anti-israel claims against hagel through the eyes of a seasoned diplomat.

nicholas burns is a former undersecretary of state. he joins us by phone. good morning, mr. ambassador. >> good morning. >> before we speak, i want to tell people exactly what hagel said that -- those comments that are haunting him today. in one statement, he said -- this was a long time ago. he said, i'm not an israeli senator. i'm a united states senator. of course, mr. hagel said that when he was serving in the senate. and another time he says, "the jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here." not very diplomatic words, right? but are they anti-israel? >> no, i don't think so. carol, senator hagel has a long record of support for israel, support for israel's security. i think this is an outstanding choice by president obama because senator hagel is clearly, without any question, one of the most knowledgeable and sperexperienced leaders we on foreign defense policy. he's got a long record of support for the u.s. military, and he's a combat veteran in vietnam. so he's seen war.

i think he's going to add weight to the cabinet, and he's going to work well with the president and be a real boost for our foreign and defense policy. >> what do you suppose he meant when he said the jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here? what did he mean by that? >> i don't know what he meant specifically, but i know the remark was made some time ago, and i know that senator hagel has been very consistently supportive of the obligation and interests that the united states has to support israel's security. he has never deviated from that. he's also been -- and i know this because i was involved in iran policy in the bush administration -- a very strong supporter of the effort to deny iran nuclear weapons. frankly, some of the charges i've seen in the press, completely unfair. and kage rate exaggerated. and i hope that senator hagel gets a fair hearing. the president has the right to nominate who he pleases to the cabinet, and if the nomination goes through, i think it's a

very, very good choice. >> ambassador burns, thanks for being with us this morning. at the same time as the announcement, president obama will also announce his choice for who to serve as the cia. james brennan served 25 years in the cia, but that doesn't mean the nomination will be a slam dunk. pentagon correspondent chris lawrence explains. >> reporter: john brennan is the white house's point man for targeting terroristed. he's got an office in the west wing and the ear of president obama. moving to langley would be a big change. >> going to the cia, you are further away from the west wing of the white house and immediate access to the president. >> reporter: in a way, brennan would be coming home. he joined the cia after reading a want ad in the newspaper, learned arabic, and become a station chief in saudi arabia. >> al qaeda is on the ropes. >> reporter: brennan was a candidate for cia director four years ago, but he pulled out of contention when critics slammed his involvement in bush-era

interrogations. the job went to leon panetta and later david petraeus. but the former general had a culture clash with some career cia analysts. following outsiders, panetta and petraeus, may be easier for brennan. >> they'll think here's a guy who understands us and will have our backs and defend us. >> reporter: brennan was intimately involved in the run-up to the assault on osama bin laden. >> at one point, the analysts came back in, and they said, well, whoever is living in this compound has a dog, and, of course, very observant, muslims don't have dogs. but brennan had been on the bin laden account himself for 15 years, and he remembered that, in fact, bin laden had a dog when he was living in sudan. >> reporter: brennan supported the raid, but afterwards he initially implied that bin laden was armed when he wasn't. brennan suggested bin laden cowardly used a human shield when he did not.

>> there was a female who was, in fact, in the line of fire that reportedly was used as a shield to shield bin laden from the incoming fire. >> reporter: brennan broke new ground last year. >> we can be more transparent and still ensure our nation's security. >> reporter: he became the first official to publicly explain how the government uses drones to target terrorists. >> john brennan is somebody who was in the room when all these decisions were made and is one of the principal architects of this campaign. this is surely going to come up in his confirmation hearing. >> reporter: so will accusations brennan helped manipulate leaks to boost the administration's national security credentials. unlike the adviser job, which does not need congress' approval, this time brennan will have to face his critics head on. chris lawrence, cnn, washington. >> and we are expecting a formal announcement on the nominations

of former senator chuck hagel and john brennan in just about four hours. we'll bring you live coverage when that happens. it was a profitable week epd for many gun dealers across the country as gun shows see record turnouts as concern continues to grow over changes to our nation's gun laws. these are crowds in stamford, connecticut, less than an hour from newtown. in los angeles, people waited in line for more than four hours to get inside the gun show there, and they're paying a lot more for guns. thanks to high demand, the prices for things like shell cases are tripling. and a similar scene outside orlando, florida, where thousands of gun buyers turned out over two days to shop for weapons and ammunition. but opinions remain mixed on whether we need more gun laws. >> the answer is not more gun legislation. we already have laws banning murder. we still have murders? >> i don't think we should stop from owning whatever gun we want

to own other than fully automatic guns. high capacity magazines, nobody really needs them. >> and then there is this growing debate. should you know who owns a gun? in connecticut, one state representative wants to make public the names of all 170,000 handgun permit owners. comes after a new york newspaper, "the journal news," was criticized posting an online map showing the names and addresses of gun permit owners. it's a different story in new jersey, where state assemblyman dave riddle, himself a former police officer, wants to ban the release of gun owners' names and addresses. ribble told a new jersey police station that only law enforcement needs that type of information. and then a story out of georgia, which is gaining national attention and likely to become an example of why we need to protect the rights of gun owners. a georgia mother armed with a .38 protecting her children from an intruder. her husband is calling her a hero this morning.

carrie cavanaugh of wusb in atlanta tells us what happened. >> my wife is a hero. she protected her kids. she did what she was supposed to do as a responsible, prepared gun owner. >> reporter: donnie herman was on the phone with his wife as an intruder was breaking into their home. walton county sheriff's deputies say thmother works from the home on henderson ridge drive. her 9-year-old twins didn't have school. around noon, a strange man arrived at the door. deputies say he began continuously ringing bell. when no one responded, he grabbed a crowbar from his truck and pried his way in. that's when the mother grabbed her kids, her gun, and hid in a crawl space. >> the perpetrator opens that door. of course, at that time, he's staring at her, her two children, and a .38 revolver. >> reporter: sheriff joe chapman says the woman began firing all six rounds, hitting the suspect in the face and neck five times. >> she starts yelling at him, stay down or i'm going to shoot

you again. that's when she gets her two children out of the crawl space, and they run downstairs and run out of the house to a neighbor next door. >> reporter: they ran next door, and the man took off in his truck. sheriff chapman says 32-year-old paul slater crashed up the road. deputies found him on the ground. chapman said he told the deputies, help me, i'm close to dying. the mother and her children were not harmed. >> we're in the neighborhood where several law enforcement officers lived, and i don't think they could have handled the situation any better than what she did. >> her lives are saved, and her kids lives are saved. that's all i'd like to say. >> our thanks to affiliate wusb reports the suspect was placed on a ventilator with punctured lungs, a punctured liver, and a punctured stomach. the man accused of using three guns to murder people at a colorado movie theater will be in court for a key preliminary hearing this morning. and the evidence unveiled today is expected to be graphic and quite painful for the families

of the victims. james holmes, the accused shooter, will be in court. for the first time, prosecutors will unveil 911 tapes and video from inside the aurora theater. here's casey wian. >> reporter: 25-year-old james holmes is charged with killing 12 people and wounding dozens more. prosecutors are expected to call scores of witnesses before arapaho county district judge william sylvester. he'll determine whether the evidence is sufficient for holmes to stand trial on more than 150 counts, including murder, attempted murder, and weapons charges. weapons included explosives allegedly used to booby-trap holmes' apartment. his attorneys are expected to present a diminish the mental capacity defense. >> the government is going to absolutely say this. the government is going to say, this guy wasn't crazy. he was crazy like a fox. he was conniving. he was premeditated. he was methodical. and that all may be true, but at

the same time, you could be all those things, but you could also have a mental disease or defect. >> reporter: he had been seeing a psychiatrist at the university of colorado, where he was a doctoral candidate in neuroscience until'd dropping o in june. his attorneys say he was hospitalized in november after repeatedly banging his head into a jail wall. >> casey wians joins us now from colorado. casey, a question for you. the district attorney, i understand he sent a letter to the families of the victims. what does it say? >> reporter: that's right, carol. the victims, of course, are going to be enduring, those who are here in court, are going to be enduring some very disturbing, graphic and painful testimony over the next several days. they've warned about autopsy photos. hours of video from the scene. 911 calls, things like that. the prosecutors wanted to make sure the victims are prepared, if they choose to be in court, and the victims' family members choose to be in court, that they're prepared for what they

are going to encounter. some of those victims' relatives are actually expected to be in the same courtroom as james holmes. others, though, don't want to be in the same room as him, and they will be in an overflow room that holds many more people, carol. >> could james holmes enter a plea today? >> reporter: no. this is a preliminary hearing, which means the prosecution needs to show enough evidence to persuade a judge that james holmes needs to go to trial. a plea would not happen before an arraignment, which would happen after the judge makes a determination that, yes, he must stand trial. no one here believes the prosecution is going to have any difficulty persuading the judge that james holmes should go to trial on many of those 166 counts that he faces. >> casey wian reporting live from aurora, colorado, today. to sports now, and rg3. is there a difference to being

hurt and being injured. as robert griffin, the super hero rookie quarterback, and he'd say yes. maybe he would have said yes. as you know, seattle will go on to play the falcons. rg3's season is over. the question this morning, should griffin's season have ended before the seattle game? what if redskins head coach mike shanahan had taken out rg3 after he reinjured his right knee? but he didn't. even after the first quarter, when griffin fell down on an incomplete pass and was gimpy when he got up. after the game, shanahan explained why he stuck with his rookie quarterback. >> when i talked to robert, and robert said to me, he said, coach, there's a difference between being injured and being hurt. he said, i can guarantee i'm hurting right now. give me a chance to win this football game because i can guarantee i'm not injured. that was enough for me. >> i'm the quarterback of this team. my job is to be out there if i couldn't play. the only time i couldn't play is when i went down, and i took myself out of the game. that's the way you have to play it. i don't feel like me being out there -- just to tackle the next

question, i don't feel like me being out there hurt the team in any way. i'm the best option for this team, and that's why i'm the starter. >> rg3's knee buckled on him in the third quarter when he was trying to rally the redskins. he came out of the game then, and he'll have an mri on that knee. another what if. what if the redskins, and the redskins fans are wondering about this what if. what if fedex field's playing surface wasn't so sloppy? it wasn't raining or snowing. the field was a mess. we'll talk about that factor in just about 40 minutes. ray lewis played his last home game as a baltimore raven helping the team he's played with for 17 years move on in the postseason. lewis led the ravens with 13 tackles as baltimore beat indianapolis 24-9. lewis plans to retire after the ravens' playoff run ends. baltimore plays at denver on saturday. they're accused of seizing homes when their customers defaulted on their mortgages, and now some banks are paying billions for it. new prilosec otc wildberry

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urbgsds you eye 21 minutes past the hour. they're accused of prabreaking rules, and now some of the nation's biggest banks are preparing to pay up billions of dollars to homeowners. is it enough, though? a lot of homeowners got ripped off. >> reporter: that's the question. we're not getting details exactly of the specific figures, but let me backtrack and tell you the story behind this. this all comes from the r

robo-signing scandal a couple of years ago where banks were fast tracking their foreclosures without reviewing the paperwork as they should have, and that affected up to 4,000 homeowners. now we're expected to hear from the treasury department's office of the comptroller's currency. it's expected to include 14 big banks with big names like bank of america, jp morgan chase, citi, and wells fargo. here are the details we do know. these banks may pay more than $3 billion in cash payments to borrowers who are wrongly foreclosed on in 2009 or 2010. an additional $6 billion would go to noncash assistance, and that includes loan modifications. it would go to help with short sales and relocation assistance. now, of the 4.4 million homeowners affected, the 500,000 or so who requested a review of their foreclosure proceedings at the time of their foreclosure, they're going to be getting the biggest payments, carol. and that's the same with people

who are determined to have suffered harm because of these foreclosures that shouldn't have happened in the first place. here's what's interesting. those who were foreclosed on that didn't ask for a review, they will reportedly get just a couple hundred buck. it's lesson learned here. squeaky wheel gets the grease. carol? >> alison kosik reporting live from new york city this morning. we're hearing about possible new gun measures being considered by joe biden's task force established after the sandy hook shootings. what, if any, new gun laws should be passed? it's our talk back question today. facebook.com/carolcnn. or send me a tweet.

now is your chance to talk

back on one of the big stories of the day. the question for you this morning, what, if any, new gun laws should be passed? we're getting our first glimpse into what the white house may propose in terms of gun legislation. according to "the washington post," joe biden and his task force are considering reip st e reinstating the ban on assault weapons and high capacity magazines, requiring universal gun checks for gun buyers, establishing a national gun sale database, strengthening mental health checks, imposing stiffer penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors. wow, ideas, something to talk about. forget that. already, nra-backed lawmakers are shooting down the administration's approach. >> i think you need to putter g everything on the table, but what i hear from the administration and if "the washington post" is to be believed, that's way in extreme of what i think is necessary or even should be talked about, and it's not going to pass. see, that's the other thing.

>> we're talking about this on the same day that james holmes, the accused aurora shooter, appears in court, a painful reminder, along with sandy hook, of why we're even discussing gun laws right now. in a cnn poll taken after the sandy hook shooting, about two-thirds supported new gun restrictions, including a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons. but gun rights advocates don't much like that either. so what kind of gun control might they favor? as one law maker put it, nothing, if you call it gun control. >> a lot of times when you talk about gun control, you turn off more than half of your audience, and this is more than just that. what we're doing is we're working to prevent gun violence. it's a very complicated issue, and there's a lot of moving parts. >> okay. so how do you prevent gun violence? talk back question today, what, if any, new gun laws should be passed?

facebook.com/carolcnn. or send me a tweet @carolcnn.

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good morng. thanks for being with me. i'm carol costello. it's 30 minutes past the hour. stories we're watching in the newsroom. stories in vail, colorado, all to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that resort. the bell being rung remotely from the base of the mountain by the chairman and ceo on vail. stocks likely to be flat after strong gains last week to avert that fiscal cliff.

speaking of that, weeks after congress narrowly avoideded that catastrophic fiscal cliff, now we're facing another debate, the debt ceiling. many members of congress say the last-minute brinksmanship that happened with the fiscal cliff is not going to be repeated when it comes to raising the debt ceiling. others may not be on board with that. republican matt salmon of arizona had this to say. >> i was here in the government shutdown of '95. it was a divided government, democratic president of the united states and a republican congress. i believe that that government shutdown actually gave us the impetus, as we went forward, to push toward some real serious compromise. i think it drove bill clinton in a different direction, a very bipartisan direction. >> joining me now, l.z. granderson and will cain, both cnn contributors. good morning, guys. >> good morning. happy new year. >> happy new year. i'm so glad to be back. i've been on vacation, and i feel like i'm talking about the

same stuff, which i am. i wanted just to lay out the idea of a government shutdown for people who can't remember as as far back as 1995 because it had the following effects. it cost taxpayers about $800 million. new social security claims were not processed. medicare recipients were delayed, their applications, that is. the cdc, the centers for disease control hotline shutdown. if that happened today, there is a flu outbreak going on. national parks shut down. is a government shutdown really a good negotiating tool, l.z.? >> of course not. this is some of the reasons why. there are other things as well. back then, there were like 600 toxic waste areas or spills that weren't cleaned up during those 28 days, which the government was shut down. we're not just talking about things that we may not notice. we're talking about things that could be affecting public health. absolutely not, it's not a good idea, and i'm actually really

disappointed that coming out of this fiscal cliff conversation, the tactic is, look, we can put another cliff out there. that should not be in the conversation. that should not be involved in the vocabulary at all. >> will, why is it in the conversation? >> let's answer that. first of all, you're talking about a government shutdown as a product, i think, of the debt ceiling debate. i don't like the concept of using the debt ceiling as a negotiating tool because the debt ceiling is a process by which you authorize payment for spending you've already taken on, you've already approved. but a month after our debt ceiling debate, we have an actual government shutdown proposal, that is, a proposal to keep funding the government over the next six months. very short-term measure. why does that exist? l.z. said, why do we keep putting those out there? it's because two reasons. the government has not passed a budget for four years. budgets are just policy plans. they don't actually authorize spending. still it shows some responsibility, and the government's neglected to do that for almost four years. in the short term, the senate has also not taken up the

responsibility of passing appropriations bills. those that actually authorize spending. so we have these short-term government funding mechanisms. you did the story, i'm sure, six months ago, carol, a year ago, over government shutdowns, and we're going to do this as long as they don't figure out how to set spending plans in place. >> well, so are you saying that maybe it's a good idea to say we'll just shut the government down, to take extreme negotiating tactics like that? >> no, i'm not saying it's a good idea. i'm saying it's an obvious consequence. i mean, do you want the government to have an actual spending plan, to budget and spend in a responsible manner, or do you want the government to just willy nilly spend in whatever fashion it wants, in the meantime, racking up $16 trillion in debt. if they don't do the first, if they don't put responsible spending plans together. l.z. can weigh in on that. that's what they ought to do. if they don't, these other cliffs, they're natural by products.

they will happen. good or bad doesn't matter. they will happen. >> but i will say that extreme negotiating tactic certainly have not worked in the past, and i'm talking about the recent past, l.z. >> i mean, when you read bill clinton's autobiography, he spends time talking about what happened in '95 and in '96, and he talks about the fact that it really wasn't as effective as the republicans, some republicans today would like to paint it as. part of the reason why is because how it hurt the american people. the conversation you need to be having right now isn't how much is being spent or even necessarily where, but how the money is being spent. i looked at some of the details as to why we had the '95/'96 government strike. it's the same things. it's about education. it's about medicare. it's about the environment. you talked about going on vacation and coming back and hearing the same thing. we're talking about the same thing from '95 as we are today. we haven't really decided yet what type of country we want to be and how we want to spend the money in order to get there.

we spend a great deal of money on education. we probably spend more money per student than any other industrialized nations. yet when you look at the collective global testing, we're somewhere in the middle of the pack. so the conversation we need to be having isn't just about how much money or how are we spending that money, and is this moving us towards the type of country we want to be? >> that's much too complicated. i'm just kidding. >> this is the point. this is the debate. there has to be a debate. we're going to debate how we spend our money. we're now talking about when we have the debates. we should be having it in the traditional manner in which the governments operate. if we don't, we're going to be dealing with these cliffs. >> that's right. we shouldn't wait until the last minute to get something done. that's the way our government works. l.z. granderson, will cain, thank you so much. nbc has a new killer drama, and they're already defending it. we'll tell you how.

nbc is promoting and defending its new project, a deadly drama "hannibal." it says, "nbc executives dispute link between violent tv content and rash of shootings." let's get to a.j. hammer in new york. so nbc's entertainment president

was quoted as saying "hannibal" is not a shoot 'em up show. no, it's just a show where they eat people. come on, it's a violent show. >> it is a violent show. they're not disputing the fact it's a violent show, but i don't think they can ignore the controversy about violence and its possible link to what happens in real life. robert greenblatt is the head of nbc entertainment, and he's skeptical of this link between violence on television and violence in real life. he was speaking at the tv critics association convention, and he was talking about the connection between mass shootings and pop culture, but there are other factors you have to keep in mind like mental illness and access to guns. he was there to promote nbc's new show "hannibal," which is perhaps about the most famous serial killer ever portrayed in a movie, hannibal lecter. this is before "silence of the lambs" and before he developed a

taste for fava beans and chianti. there's another series about a serial killer called "the following" starring kevin bacon coming to tv. the network hopes it's a huge hit. people love this stuff. >> and the perfect example was this weekend because "texas chainsaw 3d," which i can't imagine watching really, did really well this weekend. >> it did really well. and the reason the tv shows we're talking about and movies like this get made with a lot of violence is because there's a huge appetite for them. some of the top films at the box office are the most violent ones out there. the biggest earner over the weekend was "texas chainsaw 3d." more than $20 million at the box office in its debut and the sequel to one of the bloodiest horror movies ever made. and right behind it, "django unchained," loaded with violence as well.

people are quick to pay their money to go see it. >> this just demonstrates the huge problem we have in our country. we have to examine our own culture maybe to get at the answers. >> it is always interesting toe m this is our escape. when something is historical, that's one thing. but when our escape is watching someone get eaten by dogs. >> or cut up by a chainsaw. >> a.j. hammer, thanks. a.j. hammer will be back next hour to tell us why mariah carey's ex is getting on her career. and the systems that purify your water. some of the potential targets of cyber warfare. now analysts say some of the attacks on those facilities could lead to deaths. and i'm here to tell homeowners that are 62 and older about a great way to live a better retirement. it's called a reverse mortgage.

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45 minutes past the hour. time to check the top stories. secretary of state hillary clinton will be getting back to work this morning at the state department. on the agenda today, a meeting with her assistant secretaries. there she is leaving her home. the past few weeks have been tough for mrs. clinton. she's battled the flu, a concussion, and was hospitalized for a blood clot near her brain. in new york city, school buses are rolling this morning, but a strike by its drivers could still strand some 150,000

school kids later this week. drivers are protesting plans to put contracts up for bids. a move that could cost the jobs of veteran drivers. teen heartthrob justin bieber is about to peddle plastic to your kids. the pop star is the latest celebrity to endorse prepaid debit cards. the bieber campaign will stress responsible spending, that's what it says, while courting his tens of millions of followers on social media. a new year is bringing a new development in the realm of cyber warfare. analysts say 2013 could be the year when cyber attacks sponsored by other countries go mainstream and potentially lead to deaths. wow. alison kosik is here to spread the fear. really? >> reporter: i'm going to try to pull you off the ledge a little bit. >> thanks. geez. >> reporter: the warning signals sort of are going out. online security analysts like

mcafee, verizon, what they're predicting is that cyber warfare will escalate this year, many of it between actual countries. one expert is telling cnn money that at least 12 of the world's biggest 15 military powers are building cyber warfare programs, and it's not just talk because these programs can cause major disruptions to country's infrastructure systems like traffic and water purification and banks and stock exchanges as well. one security expert is going as far to suggest that one such attack could cause people to die. these types of attacks, that they can grow more sophisticated, and the slippery slope could, quote, lead to the loss of human life. now, yeah, it is a bit of a stretch. but these security experts, they are paid to think about the unthinkable, including potential destruction caused by hacking into computer systems at a nuclear power plant, air traffic control tower, how these disruptions, carol, can eventually become a matter of life and death.

carol? >> are there any specific examples? >> reporter: you know what, we've already seen some of this evidence of this happening earlier this year. the attack on the iranian government systems, including its nuclear program, attacks by hactivist group anonymous, those were happening on bank sites and other corporate sites. the truth of the matter is they haven't done much damage other than to cause a few headaches, some annoyances. and other good news, just to pull you back from the ledge, security experts saying anonymous is losing its ability to wreak havoc. companies have learned the anonymous playbook at this point, and they know how to defend against it. this is getting more interesting as it goes on. if you want to read more, go to david goldman's full article at cnnmoney cnnmoney.com. >> i feel better now. alison kosik, thanks so much. talk back. what, if any, n gun laws should be passed? facebook.com/carolcnn. your responses next. i need you. i feel so alone. but you're not alone.

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talk back question today. what if any new gun laws should be passed? this from dan. all the king's horses and laws cannot stop someone from breaking the law. deal with the real issue, mental issue. it's too far gone to fix. unfortunately, these things will keep on happening. assault weapon ban, bullet registration, background checks and mental health checks on all

gun sales. from john, ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines. this from gary. what would a gun ban do? keep the guns out of the hands of criminals? nope. americans protecting themselves from these criminals. keep the conversation going. send me a tweet. rg-3 reinjures his knee in the wild card playoff against seattle. did the redskins make a huge mistake keeping him in the game? his knee could be messed up for life. we don't know. we'll talk about that next. searching for a bank designed for investors like you? tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 schwab bank was built with all the value and convenience tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 investors want. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550

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oh, the washington redskins looked unstoppable against seattle but robert griffin 3 hurt knee. vince joins us now. a lot of fans have had a really -- i mean, they have a great question. should rg3 have been left in that game? >> maybe i'm in the minority but i believe that in the nfl if a player and the coach get together and decide, you know, what we're going to do here regarding injury and keep him in the game, keep him in the game.

>> he's a 22-year-old rookie. the coach has 30, 40 years experience coaching. up to the coach to say, hey, i don't think that you can play this game and putting in kurt cousins and maybe we'll win. >> this isn't the high school regionals. this is the nfl playoffs. they know their bodies. 90% of the players on that field for both are injured at this point. you play through injury. i don't have a problem with him gutting it out. he came in hurt already and they felt that he was a better option than the backup quarterback to try to win the game. did it play out that way? it didn't and ended like this. there are a lot of factors involved not the least of which is that turf coming loose under his feet. you think they have enough money to fix it. >> we don't know the extent. he'll have an mri on monday but i think it's an absolute gis grace that a nfl playoff game on a field that looks like that.

dirt that's painted green. how in 2013 can we have a game played on a field like that that caused injuries that may have caused injuries to other players, as well? ridiculous. >> i don't understand that either because it's not like it's a poor team. >> no. >> it's the stadium's fairly new, right? >> of course. you want to put the best product possible on the field and make sure that the field is playable and that thing was ridiculous. i'm from cleveland. i covered the browns and it looked like that. loose turf and things flying in the air. you don't know the contribution regarding the health of players on a field like that. >> with a superstar player like rg3 and a knee problem going in, don't you say, hmm? hmm, playing conditions safe as possible for our franchise player. >> yeah. you would think so. i think there are a lot of second guessers out there. i didn't hear complaints with the big brace on and up 14-0 in the game.

>> okay. should i ask about the other football stuff going on? >> we had another game on sunday. >> oh yeah. >> this was like a scene out of "gla ye "gladiator." this is for ray lewis. the dance was back. he made 13 tackles against the indianapolis colts so that means his retirement party and he is gone at the end of the year extends for another game and ray lewis back on the field. oh! rust on that attempted interception but he was back and he helped baltimore win 24-9. >> i felt sorry for indianapolis, though. they had a great story all yearlong. didn't fare so well. >> andrew luck, the future is bright for this team. tremendous turnaround. take a look at the matchups? baltimore facing one of the hottest teams in the league in

the broncos. early game sunday and then packers and 49ers on sunday. seahawks are here in atlanta. 1:00 p.m. eastern time and the second half. new england with the texans who clobbered them. bcs national championship game. miami. notre dame. alabama. >> yeah. >> notre dame is number one and ten-point underdog in the game. >> wow! >> to alabama at number two. >> alabama's mighty vince. >> trying to continue the dynasty. i understand that. looking for a second straight bcs national title. no one's ever done that. three titles in four years. for notre dame, run effectively. stay out of third and longs. no turnovers. be physical. alabama, rely on experience and passing efficiency quarterback. the nation's best. okay. one more note to give you. >> i'm ready. >> we have a lot. nhl lockout is over. tentative agreement reached on sunday. it has to have approval from the

union and the players and that seems to be a formality and should happen by midweek. >> thousands of fans are saying -- >> should have hockey by mid-january. >> who cares? thanks, vince. newsroom starts right now. happening now, finally bipartisan agreement on capitol hill. >> this is an in your face nomination by the president. >> oh, but it's bad news for chuck hagel. both republicans and democrats line up against his nomination for defense secretary. and the announcement hasn't been made yet. traveling against the state department's wishes, former new mexico governor richardson joins google's chairman for a trip to north korea. from gigantic touch screen tables to ultra hd televisions, we're finally getting see the latest high tech gadgets and

gizmos we will be craving. we have hot new products at the consumer electronics show. plus this. >> i'm carlos diaz from south florida. epic matchup between notre dame and alabama. we have the details. cnn "newsroom" starts right now. good morning. thank you so much for being with me this hour. i'm carol costello. in just about three hours, president will announce two key nominations, one john brennan, he is a veteran of the cia agency and servels as the president's chief adviser on terrorism and homeland security and the other nomination is igniting a firestorm. former u.s. senator chuckhagel. he served two terms for his

native nebraska. he's called the defense department bloated and says the pentagon needs to be paired down. hagel is also a combat veteran, badly wounded in vietnam and is openly wary of armed conflict. >> the pain and we didn't have any medics there with us. we did have some guys, again, i think pretty bad shape and the morphine was used for them. you know, if i ever get out of all of this, i am going to do everything i can to assure that war is a last resort, that we, a nation, a people calls upon to settle a dispute, the horror of it, the pain, the suffering of it. >> we're covering all the angles of this story. jim akosta on capitol hill. john king with analysis. let's start with you, jim, on capitol hill. headache el getting blistering criticism. listen to from yesterday.

>> this is an in your face nomination by the president. to all of us who are supportive of israel. i don't know what his management experience is regarding the pentagon, little if any. i think it's an incredibly controversial choice. and it looks like the second term of barack obama is going to be an in your face term. >> and that's from a fellow republican. so jim, is hagel's nomination dead on arrival? >> reporter: i don't think so, carol. not at all. i talked to an administration official over at the white house just in the last hour about some of these comments that lindsey graham made on "state of the union" yesterday and the white house see some opposition of graham an potentially john mccain as being sort of a grudge for chuck hagel's turning against the iraq war in the second term of the bush administration. hagel supported the war and then soured on it as the years went on as a lot of americans did and

i just want to share with you, carol, comments i got from this administration official talking about graham. it's one thing to posture on a talk show. it's another thing to look a two-term senator in the eye and say i'm voting against you because you turned against the war in iraq. this official also described the nomination of hagel as a vote where a president gets his guy so they don't see this nomination as being so controversial, so white hot and provocative that the president doesn't get a -- get his person confirmed by the senate. obviously, there have been nominees to secretary of defense in the past who did become major problems like john tower with personal issues that derailed his nomination as secretary of defense in the reagan administration. but one other thing i wanted to point out, that this administration official is pointing out, they're also -- and you're going to be hearing about this later on today,

carol, with the white house briefing, they're going to be pointing to some of the comments that were made by a lot of republican senators when chuck hagel left the senate pointing to what mitch mcconnell said. a lot of senators made glowing statements about him when he left the senate talking about the time supporting the voters back in nebraska. quote, a lot of these guys gave wonderful quotes about hagel when he retired according to this administration official. so we're going to have to wait and see what happens with this, carol. yes, lindsey graham sounded very much against this nomination yesterday but there's still sometime to go before these hearings get started. >> thanks. let's bring in john king for what this means for the administration. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. >> is the president setting this in your face tone for his second term? >> i think the president would call it very different and a comfort zone.

chuck hague sell a republican and more of an independent, more of a maverick, someone with whom the president is comfortable, shares the goal of shrinking the pentagon somewhat. look, the president, yes, picking a fight here. no question. we thought it was susan rice for secretary of state. not surprising for a president who won an election to decide to pick one or two big personnel fights. that happens in politics. think think -- the white house calculation, jim's dead right about the iraq war. if we have to re-debate the iraq war, they're on the high ground for that one and hearing criticism he's soft. normally when a democrat does that, they want someone that's tough because the criticism historically is they're soft on defense and here's a republican choice labeled as soft, soft on israel and soft coming to iran sanctions. john mccain and other conservatives say soft with the end of the iraq war and the president's comfortable with him and comfortable with the new cia chief. the president doesn't have to

face re-election. this is the second term a different set of calculations and thinks he has work to do, diplomacy. they think they'll win in the end. >> i want to ask you about hagel's israel comments because he made some pretty pointed comments about israel and going to quote them. in one, hagel said, i'm not an israeli senator. and another, quote, the jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here. now, republicans are saying those comments are very controversial. are they? >> sure. some ways they're candid. you know the israeli government and the american jewish lobby is very powerful in washington. that's a simple fact of life and politics. he is saying it in a blunt, diplomatic way. but he's reflecting a powerful reality which is the israeli government has a lot of sway with american politics.

because of the blunt language, he will have some explaining to do and what all nominees have to do. he has to meet one on one. many senators are former colleagues and some of them came after he left the senate. he's going to have to explain himself. and the president will have to make clear i'm the boss and remember, carol, the tensions between this administration is a carryover. netanyahu would have preferred a romney presidency. again, in a second term, the president is less worried about the politics. he wants his team. >> hagel will be rough. see how rough shortly and nominating john brennan for the cia, a veteran of the agency. will the president have an easier time with that nomination? >> easier, yes. done deal? no. you should expect him to be the next director of central intelligence. asked tough questions of benghazi.

it would come up anyway and when senator clinton testifies before she leighs. mr. brennan what did they know and miss warning signs? expect him to be asked has the administration been perhaps too flat footed with the arab pri spring? some people will ask if the administration too reactive opposed to proactive? mr. brennan has great relations on capitol hill. look for this as all nominees as an exploration of policy, some people will air the questions and grievances. not so much about him but the bigger picture and expect him to be confirmed easily in the end. >> thanks so much. we are expecting a formal announcement on the nominations of former senator chuck hagel and john brennan. wolf blitzer will start at 12:30 p.m. eastern time and the president's remarks live. secretary of state hillary clinton getting back to work this morning at the state

department. on the agenda today, a meeting with assistant secretaries. past few weeks have been tough for clinton. battled the flu, concussion, hospitalized for a brain clot. still unclear how to affect the plans to testify before congress about september's deadly attack in benghazi, libya. the man accused of using three guns to murder people in a colorado movie theater will be in court for a key preliminary hearing this morning. and the evidence unveiled today is expected to be graphic and quite painful for the families of the victims. for the first time, prosecutors will unveil 911 tapes and videos from inside the theater where accused shooter james holmes. casey wian joins us with more. what do we expect to happen today in court? >> reporter: well, carol, we are going to see the beginnings of the prosecution's case with up to 70 witnesses being called over next several days. it's expected to last the entire

week. and what's interesting is that a lot of evidence that the prosecution has against james holmes, this is the first time that the public will be able to hear it because there has been a gag order in effect in the case covering the prosecution, covering the defense and up until recently covering the university of colorado where james holmes until just before he allegedly committed this horrific massacre was a student. also, as you mentioned, family members are expected to be here today. some of them will be in the same courtroom as james holmes. others will be in an overflow room because of space issues and because family members say some of them don't want to be in the same room as james holmes. we also could see the defense beginning to lay out its case for diminished mental capacity. with the gag order, there's been public filings that make it clear that that's the avenue that the defense intends to pursue in the case and we may see some of that, as well.

james holmes will not enter a plea during this proceedings. that will come at an arraignment, presumably after the judge rules if he does there's enough evidence to bring james holmes to trial on 166 counts of murder, attempted murder and weapons charges, carol. >> casey wian live for us from colorado this morning. harry reid shocked many with a comment he made about hurricane katrina. he said it was nothing compared to superstorm sandy. excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that?

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minutes past the hour. he's trying to urge fellow senators to pass aid for victims of superstorm sandy and in hot water after saying this. >> we are now past two months with people of new york and the people of new orleans and that area, they were hurt but nothing in comparison to what's happened to the people in new england. >> oh. those comments came as part of a broader statement where reid said congress approved aid for katrina victims in ten days but taken more than two months for those hit by sandy. by the way, sandy killed at least 113 people in the u.s. 24 in new jersey. katrina's death toll more than 1,800 and the majority of those deaths were in louisiana. shell oil says the drilling rig that ran aground off alaska is on the move and being towed. the company said they found no leaks. the rig was being towed back to

seattle a week ago when a severe storm hit and when the crew had to cut the rig loose and ran aground the next day. in less than three hours, former senator chuck hagel is expected to be formally nominated by the president for defense secretary. the former leader of u.s. forces in afghanistan, general stanley mckristol told nbc all that really matters is trust. >> i think senator hagel has the experience, certainly the quality adds a person. the real matter is whether the president has that level of trust. >> so let's ask former nato supreme allied commander wesley clark. good morning. >> good morning. >> you're a military guy. who does president obama have to consider nominating a defense secretary? >> the president is looking for someone with the expertise and experience to bring credibility to the team. i think someone to represent the

united states defense department with the congress and so he has to testify and handle senate, congressional meetings and leadership. represent the united states abroad. of course, participate as the -- with the national security council with the president and he's the number two person in the national command authority. i think stan mcchrystal is right. it takes trust. the president has to have that trust. i think chuck hagel has earned that trust and respect from the personal relationships with the president through their time in the united states senate and through previous times when senator hagel two-term senator has put a lot of effort in to the defense department. traveled abroad. he's seen u.s. forces. he knows the missions. i think he's a very, very smart pick. i think a great secretary of defense. >> it is interesting because he's a war hero. he won two purple l hearts. he saved the life of his brother

serving beside him in vietnam and some republicans suggest he's too soft. >> i think that when you go there through an experience like vietnam and paid the price and two purple l hearts means you were hit on two separate occasions and gives you appreciation for what it's like on the ground at the bottom. and especially the vietnam experience. the country really didn't -- didn't appreciate the men and women that served the way we have since we went in -- since 9/11, really. and i think that senator hagel really understands the costs and risks of conflict so i think that's the appropriate perspective to bring to bear when you're going in to the defense department. >> chuck hagel's comments on israel also bothering a lot of republicans. he said, quote, in one instance, chuck hagel say i'm not an israeli senator.

i'm a united states senator and says that jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here. those xhentds really bother not only republicans i would say but democrats, too, because israel is such a strong ally of the united states and vice versa. >> yes. those comments are the comments that provide ammunition to people who want to pick an issue but i'm convinced that senator hagel understands the u.s. responsibilities in the region. i believe he's a very strong supporter of the u.s. alliance with israel and help the united states support our defense commitments in the region, not only to the israelis but the broader context of trying to resolve those issues, bringing to bear the assets of the pentagon and a responsible and constructive way. i think that's what you're looking for in the secretary of defense, i don't think you're looking for a zealot but someone with was come, perspective, experience.

someone who understands the issue and putt it in the proper context and i do think he has to have the trust of the president. >> general wesley clark, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us this morning. we appreciate it. talk back question today. what if any new gun laws should be passed? facebook.com/carolcnn or tweet me. ♪ ♪

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now's your chance to talk back on one of the big stories of the day. what if any new gun laws should be passed? we are getting a first glimpse in to what the white house may propose in terms of gun laws. according to "the washington post" joe biden and the task force are considered reinstated the ban over assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, universal background checks for gun buyers. establishing a national gun sale database. strengthening mental health checks. imposing stiffer penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving guns to minors. wow, ideas. something to talk about. forget that. already nra-backed lawmakers are shooting down the administration's approach. >> i think you need to put everything on the table but what i hear from the administration and if "the washington post" is to be believed that's way, way

in extreme of what i think is necessary or even should be talked about. and it's not going to pass. see, that's the other thing. >> we're talking about this on the same day that james holmes the accused aurora shooter appears in court, a painful reminder of why we're discussing gun laws right now. a poll after the sandy hook shootings, two thirds supported new gun restrictions including a ban on semiautomatic assault weapons. gun rights advocates don't like that either. what kind of gun control might they favor? >> a lot of times when you talk about gun control, you turn off more than half of your audience. and this is more than just that. what we're doing is we're working to prevent gun violence. it's a very complicated issue and there's a lot of moving parts. >> okay. so we'll bite. how do you prevent gun violence?

talk back question today. what if any new gun laws should be passed? facebook.com/carolcnn or tweet me. the chairman of google travels to north korea on a trip not sanctioned by the u.s. government.

good morning. i'm carol costello. thanks so much for being with us. approaching 30 minutes past the hour. time to check the top stories. palestinian authority chosen a new name for itself. president abbas issuing the decree rebranding the group as the state of palestine. that's according to a news agency saying that the change is, quote, a unique, new move to the path of national independence. senator rand paul is asking for privacy after his 19-year-old son william was charged with underaged drinking and disorderly conduct following an arrest. authorities did not say if the younger paul on a flight was drinking on the plane or at the airport. $9 billion of aid on the way to victims of superstorm sandy after president obama signed a

scaled back funding package in to law. a vote for additional $51 billion in aid is set for next tuesday. less than three hours from now, president obama is expected to name chuck hagel as the choice for defense secretary but could be bruising. hagel is known for being fiercely independent and the loudest outcry could come from his own fellow republicans. they say he's the wrong choice to oversee the military. the combat veteran badly wounded in vietnam is openly wary of armed conflict and called for cuts in defense spending. so far, the response from lawmakers has been polarizing. >> delayed emergency funding for the troops in 2007. in 2008 he said it wasn't because of the troops addition. adding that to the dangerous views of iran and hezbollah and hostility towards israel, i

think the senate should oppose mr. hagel. >> chuck hague sell a tremendous statesman and patriot. served incredibly in vietnam, served as a united states senator. he hasn't had a chance to speak for himself. >> chief political analyst gloria borger in the washington bureau to answer that very question, i mean, you have been reporting for a month hagel was the frontrunner. why do you think obama wanted him if he would get the grief? >> i think he knew he would get the grief and i think he's been thinking about him for quite sometime and there's a variety of reasons. first of all, the president believes that he's qualified. this is somebody who's served in the senate. was on foreign relations committee, obviously. this is somebody who's been very involved with veterans, veteran himself. if he becomes secretary of defense, he would, i believe, become the first enlisted man to

become the chief at the pentagon. i also think he believes given his record and given his stature that he would be somebody who could stand up to the generals. this is very important to the president. when the president was deciding about the surge in afghanistan, and in my reporting on that, something that came up over and over and over again was the president's concern that he listen to the generals but then make his own decisions and i think he believes that chuck hagel is somebody who could really do that and that is very important to him. also, i think personally and you can't underestimate this, president obama is somebody who likes to have a comfort level with the people he appoints. he's become a good friend of chuck hagel's. remember, they travelled to the middle east together in 2007 or 2008. he is somebody who co-chairs his intelligence advisory board.

and i think he's somebody who sees eye to eye with in terms of iraq and afghanistan and if confirmed, chuck hagel, don't forget, would be pulling troops out of afghanistan, not putting them in. i think it's a large picture there and it's the person that the president i think wanted from day one. >> okay. so susan rice, president wanted her to be secretary of state. he won't be obviously, right? >> that's right. >> what does this nomination, i mean, senator graham called this an in your face kind of thing with the president. is it? >> well, in a way to lindsey graham i think it is because he comes from the other side of the foreign policy spectrum but you raise an interesting question of susan rice and i raised it to someone in the administration. why pick chuck hagel but not go to bat over susan rice? the answer i was given was that susan rice pulled out before the

president made any formal decision. that's the white house spin on it, if you will. i believe that they thought that perhaps susan rice was a fight they might have lost. i think the white house believes that chuck hagel is a fight they're going to win. they've got some problems. even on their own side of the aisle when it comes to pro-israel democrats. he will have a lot of tough questions to answer about the questions of how he stands on sanctions in iran. with democrats. as well as republicans. but i think in the end they made the calculation that republicans don't want to pick a huge fight or will lose a huge fight if they say chuck hagel didn't like the war in iraq. more than half of the american public didn't like it either. >> yeah. gloria, thanks so much. >> thanks a lot, carol. a trip shrouded in secrecy and taken without the support of the u.s. government. former new mexico governor

richardson and google chairman schmidt took a flight to north korea today. it's thought that richardson might try to negotiate the release of an american being held there. cnn's alison kosik is following the story from new york. why did the google chairman go with bill richardson? >> we don't know why, carol. a spokesperson said the company doesn't comment on personal travel. we know that north korea censors access to the internet. richardson said that schmidt is interested about the social media issues there and cnn was told it's a private, hum humanitarian visit and thought to be negotiating a release of an american and we know that the state department doesn't want the americans to visit right now. north korea uses any visits as a

sign of respect for leadership. the u.s. is trying to punish north korea for long-range rocket launch from last month. carol? >> we don't know if the american being held prisoner is a google employee or might he be? >> there are a lot of questions. we don't know. that is why there is a lot of attention on the visit because there are a lot of question marks hanging around. >> alison kosik live from new york. our digital lives are changing and we soon could be living in the home of the future. we'll show you some technology debuting at the consumer electronics show. you won't believe it. where is flo? anybody know where flo is? are you flo? yes. is this the thing you gave my husband? well, yeah, yes. the "name your price" tool. you tell us the price you want to pay, and we give you a range of options to choose from. careful, though -- that kind of power can go to your head. that explains a lot. yo, buddy!

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nbc executives say violence on tv has nothing to do with how people behave because they're defending "hannibal" as in that hannibal. let's check in with a.j. hammer. i like how you described it. it's hannibal as a more innocent character. >> got do go for what you can. before the fava beans, of course. nbc is defending it, carol, primarily because they hope and think that people will watch this show and robert greenblatt said he's skeptical of the connection of violence on tv and real life. he was speaking at a convention and made the view clear that people need to remember that factors like mental illness and access to guns do play a big role in real-life violence

despite people being quick to point fingers. the reality is there are a lot of shows with a lot of violence that do very well in the ratings and the hope for big ratings is why in the end nbc is unveiling this show, why fox has a serial killer show called "the following" coming out and finding violence on televisiote carol, because you could bet that the networks would change if it turned audiences off. >> these shows make heroes out of serial killers, in to the interesting characters that we're supposed to really like in a way but hate at the same time. >> yeah. there is this sympathetic factor and it sort of goes, or flies in the face of how we think we should be thinking about the people that do the things they do. >> at least in "the chain saw massacre" the guy pays in the end in some way. >> right, right. the audience, as well.

with it coming at you in 3d. >> i can't -- i have to close my eyes in that movie. let's end on something sort of kind of maybe uplifting. mariah carey, her ex-husband drama. not uplifting. >> maybe not. tommy mottol and mariah carey has been divorced for 15 years. he has a new book out and we get his take on mariah's success and what part he played in that. he claimed some credit for her career and i think he rightfully can saying that carey has incredible talent but if he wasn't there to drive her and hadn't been so controlling, she would never have achieved the success she has now. was i obsessive? yes. that was part of the reason for her success. mariah was a teenager when he signed her to a record contract

and she was 23 when they were married. a four-year marriage and you may remember later on mariah lefebvred to that time in her life as a private hell. but certainly at the beginning when she was just starting out, tommy was the guy that gave her the big break and pushed and pushed her. unfortunately, there have been a lot of stories about the level to which he pushed her and played out. >> i'm glad he found a way to justify her private hell. good for him. >> there you go. >> a.j. hammer, thank you. for the latest entertainment news, watch "showbiz tonight" 11:00 eastern on hln. we're always on the go and we need gadgets that can keep up. this week, thousands of companies show off the latest and greatest in tech. we have a sneak peek. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.

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if the latest and greatest of all things tech, the consumer electronics show gets in to swing today with everything from cars that drive themselves to ultrahigh def televisions. more than 3,000 exhibiters in las vegas hoping to change the way you and i live. check this out. an 84-inch touchscreen table. that's one of the countless products that will debut this week. jim barry is spokesman for the consumer electronics association, the trade group behind the event. jim, why do people need that gigantic screen on a tabletop? >> well, it's not always a question of need, is it? good morning, carol. nice to be with you. well, you know, that's one of the -- it's an interesting thing about this show. it reflects and both leads what's going on in technology every year for the past 40-some

years. and, you know, that static devices like that, while very cool and touchscreens, one of the big trends, another big trend are no touchscreen, gesture technology but the real movement is away from the static devices, tvs and desktop computers to portable devices, ultra book computers or ebook readers. we are taking the information and entertainment with us just about everywhere. >> i'm looking forward to the day when i don't have to touch anything. i can just think and the device will work. >> well, you know, that's getting closer. when you think of -- i mentioned no-touch, yes, sgesture. now getting in more and more television sets so you don't have to touch it or use a remote to change the channel or change the volume. but the other combination of artificial intelligence and voice recognition, we know it as

siri with iphones or speak to it for android but that's the kind of thing, a fundamental change to let us do a lot of things we can't do now with the devices and use them in many different ways and intuitive and actually a lot easier, too. >> that's cool. if i could do a hand motion and my television changes channels, that would be awesome. >> that's cool. >> let's talk about smartphones and some of the accessories. what's one of the cooler accessories for my -- >> one of the cool things i've seen here is the smart sound and the smart sound is actually a case, a case for your -- this one in this case this is the samsung galaxy note but the back of the case, opens up like this and like a trumpet effect i would say. it increases the sound if you're watching movies or listening to music, we use a smartphone to

listen to music or a spokerphone for a group, amplifies the sound. you can see for this one it's actually a sand and the smart sound. very, very cool i think. and again, a simple idea that adds to some really high tech products. >> really cool. the ces is a big car show which i didn't know so tell us some of the cool things you could get for your car. >> well, it's a big car show annual it's a big app show, also. and here is the viper. this is from -- this is on an iphone. this is an app that you hook up with your car and this is the viper smart start and start your car from your iphone. and you can also use this with siri. i can't do that in the studio but you can tell siri to start the car. for those of us in the northeast, cold winter's morning or the hot area, a hot day, get

the air conditioning or heat going. >> that's awesome. with the music and video and pictures, easy to run out of space to store it all but you tell -- you 'll tell us there's a wireless solution. >> this is the air stash and really cool with a usb connecter, too. but it works with an ipad or other smartphone so most of us don't have enough memory, especially with movies and music on our phone or tablet. the air stash from maxiell and works with a number of devices, as well. you have kids and everybody wants to listen to the same thing or different things, you can wirelessly add memory and send stuff from one device to the other. this is the air stash from maxiell and about $150 or so. another great thing about electron electronics, the prices come down as time goes by. >> jim barry, thanks. you were a lot of fun. we appreciate it. >> thanks, guys. we'll have complete coverage

of the consumer electronics show online at cnnmoney.com.

as you well know, the nfl divisional round of playoff games set for next weekend, on saturday, the ravens travel to denver to take on the top seeded broncos and then the 49ers host the green bay packers. on sunday, the fall cans take on

seattle and the texans play the patriots. talk about the redskins. robert griffin 3 will have an mri. a lot of buzz over whether they should have left him in the game after rg3 hurt the knee in the first quarter. we'll keep you posted on his injury update. he's set to have an mri today. how big is tonight's bcs championship battle between number one notre dame and number two alabama? well, follow the money. the resell market has tickets going for as much as $60,000 each. $60,000 each. i'm speechless, carlos diaz, from hln sports who's lucky enough to cover the game in south florida. >> i think i should be paying like $4,000 just to be this close to the staid july right now. carol, there so many amazing

stories here with the national championship game. of course notre dame against alabama. but if you look deeper at people like the quarterback of alabama, at 5 years old, he had a near-death experience on a wave runner and ever since then he's gone back to the children's hospital that helped save his life and delivered presents to some kids at the hospital and this time last year he went to that hospital and met little starlet chapman. she was a 3-year-old with a rare form of cancer and when he gave starla a present, he gave him a present, a little yellow wristband saying just trust. he wore it last year. he wore it last year during the national championship game and played in last year and won and not taken that wristband off since and get this. starla who flat lined last year, that's how dire her situation was last year, her parents told to pray for a miracle. that miracle came and now her

cancer is in remission and mccarron says that he's touched to be able to work with young people like that. >> i've been blessed enough to be in a pog to kind of touch people's lives, inspire them in certain ways and she was a blessing to me just kind of met her on that christmas eve that day and, you know, we just kind of just a relationship has taken off from there. >> and you better believe that starla is wearing her number 10 jersey tonight. she has a jersey saying a.j.'s girl. speaking of notre dame, another jersey that's important tonight and that's the number 7, worn by wide receiver t.j. jones. it is the same number of jersey his father andre jones wore in 1988 when he played for the last national championship game, last national championship team that notre dame had.

andre jones passed away a year and a half ago just before t.j.'s sophomore season. he had a brain aneurysm at the age of 42 and t.j. said it's the teammates and alumni at notre dame that helped him get through the tough time. >> it means a lot, i represent my dad on the field. even though he's not here, i feel like he's with me every day. i'm glad i get the opportunity to, you know, i guess play for him now with his number. >> talking about how this is an epic matchup of number one ranked notre dame and number two alabama and so many great stories involved with the game, as well, carol. >> i know. i got goosebumps. carlos diaz, thanks so much. we'll be right back.

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lots of responses to the "talk back" question today. this from stephen. sensible gun safety laws should be an ongoing effort. this from gary. we don't need any more nanny laws. people with malicious intent won't abide by any laws. more gun control will just take away firearms from law abiding citizens. this from deborah. there is nothing wrong with background checks but if someone really wants a gun they will find a way to get it. this from jeffrey. the only law that